This mixture of fireworks and sweetmeats perfectly suits the showmanship of Maxim Vengerov. Though there are many favourites included on the CD, such as the two Kreisler charmers, the selection is unusual in centring on four items by Wieniawski. Two, the first of the Polonaises and the Scherzo-tarantelle, are among the favourites, too, but it is good to have the second and much longer Polonaise – not quite so striking but with opportunities for Vengerov to use his charm as well as his brilliance – and the longest item of all, the Variations on an Original Theme, with which the recital starts. It is true that after the showy introduction the arrival of the chirpy, banal theme is a slight disappointment, but many great sets of variations have been written on trivial themes. Like all the Wieniawski items, it exudes the composer’s joy in his prowess as a virtuoso violinist.

The Paganini is firmly among the sweetmeats rather than the fireworks, and even the Sarasate for half its length is sweetly lyrical, before the tarantella proper. The Press arrangement of the Rachmaninov Vocalise sounds curiously different from the original, but Kreisler’s arrangement of the celebrated 18th variation from Rachmaninov’s Paganini set is admirably straightforward.

John Williams’s haunting theme for Schindler’s List works rather well in this context, even if the melody comes round once too often, while the rare Ysaÿe Caprice ends the recital. It’s an attractive ragbag of a piece which again reflects the love of the composer as well as of the artist for the expressive range of the violin.

Vengerov’s brilliance, even in the most hair-raising writing, goes without saying, and, with Ian Brown an ever-sympathetic accompanist, he heightens the effect of the lyrical pieces using daring dynamic extremes, often producing the sweetest, gentlest threads of sound.